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Sunday, July 12, 2015

700 Days and Counting

Do you know that on Thursday Egyptian Freelance photographer Mahmoud Abu Zaid aka Shawkan had spent 700 days fro his life in detention and prison pending investigation for doing nothing except his job ?
Do you know that Shawkan is currently suffering from Hepatitis C and has to receive proper medical treatment as soon as possible ?
Here is what Shawkan said in his recent letter from prison.

Despair penetrated my red blood cells and kidney, my brain rejects sleeping and my body sweats continuously. Losing consciousness for a few minutes became a habit on a daily basis. My weak body, full of disease, became helpless to continue bearing hard imprisonment for two years, without any guilt except bearing my camera to shoot events with neutrality and objectivity

“Source : Freedom for Shawkan”
Shawkan’s detention renewal was already adjourned to next 21 July by the court this week suddenly when the Freelance photographer’s detention pending investigation by prosecution was renewed for another 45 days 20 June !!!!
Esraa Mahfouz’s detention was also renewed today for another 15 days pending investigation.

Esraa on the coverof Al-Araby's special featureon women detainees in Arab world

Demanding the Freedom for her daughter, Mrs. Hanaa Ali says that Esraa told her that she feared that she was going to be paralyzed in prison.I do not know what to say more about Esraa Mahfouz , that girl who loves life, people and photography except this is too much for real.
Of course Esraa could be a little luckier than her friends Omar and Sohip who are officially facing a terrorism-related case. We know that the two young men are facing military case, but we did not know what it is or what it is except Only last night. Egypt’s ministry of defense released on YouTube a video clip showing the confessions of alleged members of the most dangerous terrorist cell following the Muslim Brotherhood.
The young men appearing in the video confess that they received training abroad to commit terrorist acts in Egypt and so on.
Among those men who are identified as terrorists officially in the video despite they have not stood a trial yet 5 young men who were reportedly forcible disappeared for at least 40 days.
Among those 6 young men, Sohip and Omar who were arrested with Esraa at Chili’s in Maadi earlier last month. Omar did not appear in the video clip. According to his family, Omar was badly tortured and can not speak easily nor he can move one of his arms.
Sohip appeared in the video claiming that he bought a gun with LE 75,000 !!!
Sohip has already told his family that during his detention he was blindfolded for 12 days and that he was electrocuted
Already I do not know how Sohip received training abroad on allegedly terrorist acts when he was arrested in late 2013 among those arrested in the infamous Al-Jazeera international’s Marriott Cell. For a year,Sohip was detained and then sentenced to jail for three if I am not mistaken.

Sohip as a terrorist in the video

He was released pending trial during the retrial last February. Since his release, Sohip used to report on a daily basis to his parole officer at Al-Haram Police station according to his family.
Needless to say, showing the confessions of those men as suspects is a huge violation to the constitution, the law and human rights. I think we are speaking logic here.
Sadly enough Sohip and Omar became best friends through Esraa and the trio began to go out this summer together. It is just sad.

The three having good times in better days

Now Shawkan and Esraa are not the only photographers currently behind the bars unjustly.
There is also doctor-turned journalist Abdullah El-Fakhranay who was in the wrong place and wrong time from three years ago where he was arrested with Mohamed Soltan at the Soltans House in Cairo. El-Fakhranay was sentenced life in jail in the “Rabaa Control room” case. Soltan was deported and is now a free man while El-Fakhranay is still in jail.
El-Fakranay’s family issued a statement earlier this week demanding his release and freedom.

Mahmoud Mohamed, who was arrested in the third anniversary of the 25 January for a T-shirt against torture has got his detention for another 45 days pending investigation. Mahmoud has been in detention for more than 500 days now !!!

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